Rising death toll in South Korean landslides, flooding

A blast of heavy rain sent landslides barreling through South Korea's capital and a northern town Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including 10 college students doing volunteer work.

The students died as mud and debris engulfed them as they slept in a resort cabin in Chuncheon, about 68 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of the capital Seoul, said Byun In-soo of the town's fire station. A married couple and a convenience store owner also died.

About 500 officials and residents worked to rescue people trapped in the mud and wreckage. Twenty-four people were injured and several buildings destroyed, officials said. Witnesses interviewed on television likened the sound of the landslide to a massive explosion or a screaming freight train and described the screaming they heard as buildings were carried away by rivers of mud.

Yonhap via Reuters

People try to climb on top of a car on a flooded road during heavy rainfall in Seoul, South Korea, on July 27. Wild weather has battered the peninsula since late Tuesday, causing widespread flooding.

Yonhap via Reuters

Cars are trapped on a flooded road during heavy rainfall in Seoul on July 27.

Jang Seung-Yoon / AFP - Getty Images

A rescue worker checks a block of flats after a landslide hit the apartment building in southern Seoul on July 27. Torrential rain pounding South Korea triggered landslides that killed 18 people and flooded hundreds of homes, rescuers said.

Jang Seung-Yoon / AFP - Getty Images

A man walks over mud after a landslide hit a street in southern Seoul on July 27.